The Virginian Railway

The Virginian Railway was one of the smallest Class I systems in the
east, not to mention one of the youngest. However, despite its small
size the VGN was a force to be reckoned with in the movement of southern
West Virginia coal to the ports of southern Virginia. The VGN, built during the first decade of the 20th century, spent lavishly in featuring the best engineering
and lowest graded railroad between the two points, even better than
larger rivals Norfolk & Western Railway and Chesapeake & Ohio.
However, because of the railroad’s small size and dominance in hauling
southern Appalachian coal it comes as no surprise that it was eventually
purchased by one of its rivals, in this case the Norfolk & Western.
Today, the former VGN main line remains an important and vital link in
successor Norfolk Southern’s system.

The Virginian has its beginnings when engineer
William Page and financer Henry Rogers, the richest man in the world at
the time, teamed up to initially build the short line Deepwater Railway
in southern West Virginia. However, their attempts to move coal over
their new railroad proved unsuccessful as the larger surrounding
railroads, attempting to keep competition out, refused to give the
little shortline favorable interchange rates. Undeterred and with
unlimited amounts of cash at their disposal the team set about building
their own railroad to Norfolk, Virginia. In 1907 they chartered the Virginian Railway and after acquiring the
necessary right-of-ways completed their line in 1909.

A Further Look About The Virginian Railway

The new railroad had a mainline stretching from Deepwater, West Virginia to Norfolk, Virginia with several branch lines snaking out into the deep hollers of West Virginia to tap the many coalmines in the region. The VGN was an extremely well engineered and profitable railroad, particularly for its small size. Always looking for a more efficient means of moving its product to market and with a near endless supply of cash at its disposal the VGN began contemplating replacing its fleet of massive steam locomotives with an electrified system. While its main line was the most efficient compared to its surrounding competitors, like the Norfolk & Western Railway, it still had to contend with some steep grades, particularly at Clarks Gap, West Virginia.

Even though the Clarks Gap grade was the prominent bottleneck on the system the Virginian decided to electrically operate its entire main line. The project began in 1922 and was completed three years later in 1925 at a cost of $15 million, in all stringing wires 134 miles from Mullens, West Virginia to Roanoke, Virginia. By the 1920s when the electrification project was completed, high-voltage single-phase alternating current (AC) transmission had become the preferred means of electrifying rail lines.

AC transmission has none of the inherent drawbacks of DC
systems, requires relatively cheaper overhead wires (or catenary), and
can employ thousands of volts of
power (although AC’s significant drawback is lower traction in
comparison to what DC allows). As it were the Virginian went with an
11,000-volt AC system with powered supplied by its very own power plant
located in Narrows, Virginia. For initial power on the electrification
system, the railroad turned to Alco and Westinghouse, the latter of
which specialized in AC transmission (whereas General Electric at the
time preferred DC transmission). What resulted was the ubiquitous boxcab
design (famous in the era), delivered beginning in April of 1925.

To supplement its aging boxcabs,
which were reliable and effective but heavy (thus hard on the rails) and
only operated with two gears, the VGN turned to General Electric.
Its first purchase came in 1948 when it took delivery of four new units
known as AC rectifiers. AC rectifiers are a truly exceptional and an
efficient type of motive power. Since by the 1930s AC was the preferred
method of electrification most new electric locomotives were likewise
built to AC specifications. However, AC, again did not provide quite
such high tractive efforts as could be achieved with DC systems.

To counter this railroads, particularly those which found high
tractive efforts very beneficial in mountainous territory like the
Great Northern, Virginian, Pennsylvania, and Norfolk &
Western, needed a new locomotive that operated on AC power but could use
DC traction motors to gain the best of both worlds.
These new semi-permanently coupled units numbered 125-128 were classified
as EL-2Bs by the VGN, featured a B-B+B-B + B-B+B-B wheel
arrangement, were rated at 50 mph, and produced 260,000 pounds of
tractive effort with a phenomenal 6,800 horsepower! The EL-2Bs also
featured a more contemporary streamlined cab design than their utilitarian boxcab predecessors.

Eight years later in 1958 the VGN would take delivery of its final
motors; 12 Ignitron rectifiers (also from GE) designated class EL-C.
Even more contemporary than the EL-2B design the EL-Cs featured the now-classic diesel road-switcher design (and accompanying cab design)
with a C-C wheel arrangement (i.e., six powered axles in total). The
EL-Cs were rated at 3,300 horsepower and delivered 98,500 pounds of
tractive effort. For fifty years the Virginian Railway made a very profitable living hauling bituminous coal
from southern WV mines to tidewater ports at Norfolk. In an
interesting historical footnote the VGN is credited with kicking off the
modern mega-merger movement when the Norfolk & Western courted the
railroad in the late 1950s in hopes of purchasing it. After approval
the company disappeared into the N&W’s system in 1959 and
while its electrification was shutdown on June 30, 1962 its well-engineered main line continues to play an important role in the Norfolk Southern system today.

Virginian's Electrification System

The Virginian electrification project was one of the most
unique operational practices in eastern Appalachian railroading until it
was shutdown in 1961. In terms of the railroad industry’s history the
Virginian Railway was a very late entry, as its original main line was
not completed until 1909 connecting Deepwater, West Virginia (near
Charleston) in the heart of Appalachian coal country with Norfolk,
Virginia and the tidewater ports. The railroad was the dream of Henry
Rogers and William Page, and while they were harassed and hassled by the
larger railroads that did not want more competition, particularly for
the rich coal traffic the region provided, they completed their railroad
nonetheless. The Virginian was an extremely well engineered and profitable
railroad, particularly for its small size. Always looking for a more
efficient means of moving its product to market and with a near endless
supply of cash at its disposal the VGN began contemplating replacing its
fleet of massive steam locomotives with an electrified system between
western Virginia and southern West Virginia. While the Virginian’s main
line was the most efficient compared to its surrounding competitors,
like the Norfolk & Western Railway, it still had to contend with
some steep grades, particularly at Clarks Gap, West Virginia.

Even
though the Clarks Gap grade was the prominent bottleneck on the system
the Virginian decided to electrify virtually its entire main line. The
project began in 1922 and was completed three years later in 1925 at a
cost of $15 million, in all stringing wires 134 miles from Mullens, West
Virginia to Roanoke, Virginia. By the 1920s when the Virginian Railway electrification project was completed,
high-voltage single-phase alternating current (AC) transmission had
become the preferred means of electrifying rail lines. AC transmission
has none of the inherent drawbacks of DC systems, requires relatively
cheaper overhead wires (or catenary), and can employ thousands of volts
of power (although AC’s significant drawback is lower traction in
comparison to what DC allows).

As it were the Virginian Railway went with an 11,000-volt AC system with powered supplied by its very own power plant
located in Narrows, Virginia. For initial power for the Virginian
Railway electrification system, the railroad turned to Alco and
Westinghouse, the latter of which specialized in AC transmission
(whereas General Electric at the time preferred DC transmission). What
resulted was the ubiquitous boxcab design (famous in the era), delivered
beginning in April of 1925. While rather simple looking these
locomotives could provide
tremendous amounts of power. Designated classes EL3A, EL2A, and EL1A
their differences were merely in the number of units operating together
as a set (i.e., EL3As operated in sets of threes, EL2As in sets of twos,
and EL1As as a single unit). Most often these boxcabs were operated in
sets of three as class EL3A and could produce an impressive 7,125 hp
and 231,000 pounds of tractive effort!

The unit’s tremendous
tractive
effort was in part due to its large size, weighing in at over 1.2
million pounds with a length of 152 feet and 3 inches. In all, the
Virginian Railway owned 16 of these early boxcabs; ten of the EL3A class
numbered 100-109 and six of the EL1A class numbered 110-115 (the one
EL2A numbered 100 was later reclassified as an EL3A). The Virginian’s
boxcabs used the early side-rod design to transfer power to the driving
wheels and used what was called “phase converters” to turn single-phase
AC transmission into three phase for use by its large induction motors.
These boxcabs operated for a little over 20 years until the Virginian began updating its fleet in the late 1940s with newer motors.

To supplement its aging boxcabs, which were reliable and effective but
heavy (thus hard on the rails) and only operated with two gears, the
Virginian turned to General Electric. Its first purchase came in 1948
when it took delivery of four new units known as AC rectifiers. AC
rectifiers are a truly exceptional and an efficient type of motive
power. Since by the 1930s AC was the preferred method of electrification
most new electric
locomotives were likewise built to AC specifications. However, AC,
again did not provide quite such high tractive efforts as could be
achieved with DC systems.

To counter this railroads, particularly those which found high
tractive efforts very beneficial in mountainous territory like the
Great Northern, Virginian Railway, Pennsylvania Railroad, and Norfolk
& Western, needed a new locomotive that operated on AC power but
could use DC traction motors to gain the best of both worlds.
These new semi-permanently coupled units numbered 125-128 were
classified as EL-2Bs by the Virginian, featured a B-B+B-B + B-B+B-B
wheel
arrangement, were rated at 50 mph, and produced 260,000 pounds of
tractive effort with a phenomenal 6,800 horsepower! The EL-2Bs also
featured a more contemporary streamlined cab design than their
utilitarian boxcab predecessors.

Eight years later in 1958 the VGN would take delivery of its final motors; 12 Ignitron rectifiers
(also from GE) designated class EL-C. Even more contemporary than the
EL-2B design the EL-Cs featured the now-classic diesel road-switcher
design (and accompanying cab design) with a C-C wheel arrangement (i.e.,
six powered axles in total). The EL-Cs were rated at 3,300 horsepower
and delivered 98,500 pounds of tractive effort. As a side note, the EL-Cs had a very interesting history. They
lasted a mere year under VGN ownership as the Norfolk & Western
purchased the railroad in 1959 and shutdown the electrification
in 1961, pulling up one of its two main lines (the railroad’s line
essentially paralleled the N&W’s) and used the VGN’s route in
conjunction with its own for a double-track, eastbound-westbound
configuration. The EL-Cs thus went on to be purchased by the New Haven
which reclassified them as EF-4s for use in freight service.

Diesel Locomotive Roster

Fairbanks Morse

Model Type

Road Number

Date Built

Quantity

H16-44

10-49

1954-1957

40

H24-66 (Train Master)

50-74

1954-1957

25

General Electric

Model Type

Road Number

Date Built

Quantity

44-Tonner

6

1941

1

Steam Locomotive Roster

Class

Type

Wheel Arrangement

AA, AC

Articulated

2-6-6-0

AD, AF, USA, USC, USD, USE

Chesapeake

2-8-8-2

AE

Articulated

2-10-10-2

AF

Mallet

2-8-8-0

AG

Allegheny

2-6-6-6

BA

Berkshire

2-8-4

EA

American

4-4-0

MA, MB, MC/A, MD

Mikado

2-8-2

PA

Pacific

4-6-2

SA, SB

Switcher

0-8-0

TA

Ten-Wheeler

4-6-0

XA

Triplex

2-8-8-8-4

The New Haven Railroad (NYNH&H) went on to be folded into the
Penn Central, where they were again reclassified as E33s. Of course,
the ill-fated Penn Central lasted not even a decade before its
monumental collapse and bankruptcy
forced the government to create the Consolidated Rail Corporation
(Conrail), which began operations in the spring of 1976. The few that
remained in service under Conrail remained classified as E33s until the
carrier shutdown electrified operations in the early 1980s, earning the
EL-Cs a unique status of being owned and operated by five different
Class Is! While the Virginian was never a large railroad and lasted a
mere
50 years as an independent company it was an extremely well managed and
profitable carrier that gains its distinctiveness from operating an
almost entirely electrified system. Most of the railroad's electric
locomotives have since been scrapped (including most of its locomotive
fleet in general) but at least one still survives, EL-C #133 which
resides at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.

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